iOS 26 update breaks personal hotspot on iPhone 16 Pro Max

I had the same issue and after trying a lot of things the following worked for me i hope it helps.

1- Go to settings > cellular > cellular data network 

2 - Caution here i don’t know what it might cause but I turned off “Use carrier settings”

3 - I filled out APN on cellular data section and scrolled down and on Personal Hotspot section the APN field was empty too and i filled out my carriers APN. 

Thats it when i went back the personal hotspot is not grayed out anymore and i can use it like before. 

Well, if you’ve truly tried “everything” then you will never be able to use your personal hotspot again.

Does “everything” include contacting your carrier, who provides the Personal Hotspot?

Does “everything" include Resetting Network Settings?

Does “everything” include contact Apple support using the Apple Support app on your phone (or download from the App Store if you don’t have it)

Does “everything” include removing your VPN app and profile?

Do you have a 3rd party VPN installed, even if you are not using it? If so, delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN, then restart your device. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile. Updates sometimes "break" VPN, and it needs to be removed. If that fixes it, you can try reinstalling VPN, but probably shouldn't.

Update: The issue was actually with my carrier. They replaced my SIM with a new one, and now Personal Hotspot works perfectly.

Some users are experiencing the issue while many do not. I believe it depends on your carrier with a combination of the phone and carrier software it is running. The carrier controls whether you are allowed to use the personal hotspot while Apple provides the feature.

There are too many iterations and combinations. All are not properly tested before the new update was released. This is a failure in the "new improved" agile test and software release methodology to deploy releases faster.

Disclosure. I am in development, engineering and testing. However not for Apple. I believe in software quality and don't get defensive and shift blame to the end users. Respect the end user.

If the control shows the hotspot symbol as gray or active. Then it is likely a control status display out of sync issue.

Anyhow Enough of my ranting. Try this if it is grayed out or showing as active when it is not.

To my point on who your provider is. NOT all users have the APN option or Cellular > Cellular Data Network. It depends on your carrier/provider.

1. Go to settings. Check if "Cellular > Cellular Data". If Off. Turn it On
2. Then toggle the "Personal Hotspot > Allow Others to Join" switch. i.e. Turn it Off and On if On. Turn it on if it was Off
3. Next ensure Bluetooth and WiFi are enabled. Note WiFi should not be connected to a WiFi network (no blue check on a public or home WiFi network).
4. Now check to confirm your laptop or device sees the iPhone hotspot. The hotspot name will show as a WiFi network on the other devices. Note that the control panel may still show it as grayed when the iPhone is broadcasting the hotspot.
5. If "Personal Hotspot" is still not active. Turn off "Cellular Data" Then turn it back On. Go back to repeat steps 1 to 4 again.

If there are still issues with connecting Turn on "Maximize Compatibility" under "Personal Hotspot" if this option is available to you. As before this may or may not be an option for your situation.

This is for a wireless hotspot. There is also option for direct wired connection via USB. However I won't go into that.

1. Restart your iPhone
2. Do you have a 3rd party VPN installed, even if you are not using it? If so, delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN, then restart your device. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile. If that fixes it, you can try reinstalling VPN, but probably shouldn't.

Yeah, you’re not alone — the iOS 26 update breaks Personal Hotspot for a bunch of people. My iPhone 16 Pro Max started doing the same thing right after the update — the toggle’s just gray and stuck on “Off.”

What helped me (temporarily) was going to Settings → Cellular → Personal Hotspot, turning Maximize Compatibility off and on again, then rebooting. Weirdly, it came back for a while. Another trick: remove your carrier profile (Settings → General → About → Carrier → tap “Remove”) and let it reinstall after a restart.

But honestly, this looks like a carrier-profile bug inside iOS 26, not your plan. For now, the only real fix is waiting for Apple’s patch — tons of users reporting that iOS 26 update breaks Personal Hotspot completely.

MmFf05 wrote:

I already contacted my carrier and they confirmed that my account and plan support Personal Hotspot, and there are no issues on their side.

That's good. Lots of people think that because the plan includes the hotspot, it must be working. Or must be properly set up on their account. And those things are not always true.

In addition to Lawrence's suggestions, you might also try resetting your network settings. The only thing it deletes are your saved WiFi passwords.

Settings>General>Transfer or Reset iPhone>Reset>Reset Network Settings.

It's all the way down at the bottom of the Settings>General screen.

Same issue, tried all suggested solutions…

what does work is force restart phone, and quickly connect to hotspot when it reboots….

Pain in the bum, but has been working, and connection remains… once disconnected. Problem reoccurs….

Gobbledee wrote:

Can you please stop suggesting users compromise the security of their phones by deleting VPN profiles?

Lots of people don't really understand VPNs and think they add to security in ways they do not. Deleting VPNs does not compromise security.

Don't Use VPN Services

This wasn’t an issue before iOS 26, and it should not be an issue now. Besides, your solution simply does not work.

Yes, it quite possible that a VPN wasn't properly updated to run under iOS 26 and that would cause a problem. And yes, removing them has resolved the problem for some people.

It is likely that what we're seeing is different problems with the same symptoms.

I strongly recommend you update to iOS 26.0.1.

Ios 26 killed my hotspot on an iPhone 13 on Verizon and an iPhone 17 pro on att. The only solution in both cases was a factory reset. Apple needs to fix this problem

The iOS 26.3 update is not what broke your personal hotspot; if 26.3 was an actual cause it would affect hundreds of millions of iPhones, which hasn’t happend, so this is a problem that you must either troubleshoot yourself or contact Apple support using the link at the top of this page.

As a start:

Do you have a 3rd party VPN installed, even if you are not using it? If so, delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN, then restart your device. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile. Updates sometimes "break" VPN, and it needs to be removed. If that fixes it, you can try reinstalling VPN, but probably shouldn't.

Hemakumar_iphone16 wrote:

Same issue I am facing

Hotspot getting grey out ios 26.0.1

Update to iOS 26.1.

What nonsense! I’m sorry you have a problem, but probably 100 million iPhone16 users do NOT have a problem. I don’t. So you need to troubleshoot the problem with YOUR PHONE. Apple can’t help unless you arrange for Apple to test and evaluate it.

As a start, Do you have a 3rd party VPN installed, even if you are not using it? If so, delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN, then restart your device. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile. If that fixes it, you can try reinstalling VPN, but probably shouldn't.

khizer276 wrote:

Same issue i have done every possible thing to fix this problem but its not solved its totally a software issue apple needs to fix this in an update even though i installed 26.0.1 latest update

Tell Apple:

Product Feedback - Apple

Installed IOS 26.0.1 on October 4th and also noted that the Personal Hotspot is greyed out and inaccessable on Iphone 16 Pro Max. Worked before on IOS 18.x.x

Not a VPN issue, carrier issue, or configuration issue. IOS 26.0.1 broke this feature. Hopefully Apple will pay attention to this thread and fix the issue for the Iphone 16 with eSim's.